Provisional WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2016

Highlights:

Temperatures
Global temperatures for January to September 2016 were approximately 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels and 0.88°C (1.58°F) above the average for the 1961-1990 reference period. They were especially warm in the early months of the year, with record monthly anomalies of +1.12°C (+2.02°F) in February and +1.09°C (+1.96°F) in March. Operational October data from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting ERA-40 reanalysis indicate that October temperature anomalies were similar to May to September ones.

Temperatures were above the 1961-90 average over the vast majority of land areas. In parts of Arctic Russia around the Ob River estuary and Novaya Zemlya, they were 6°C to 7°C above average. Many other Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska and northwest Canada were at least 3°C above average. More than 90% of Northern Hemisphere land areas outside the tropics were at least 1°C above average. Temperatures were less extreme in the Southern Hemisphere, but many areas were still 1°C or more above average, including northern South America, northern and eastern Australia, and much of southern Africa.

The only large land area with below-average temperatures was part of subtropical South America (northern and central Argentina, parts of Paraguay and lowland Bolivia).